Volume control for reed organ

ABSTRACT

A volume control is provided for a reed organ having an air chamber, an air moving means, a reed and reed actuating means. The volume control features a temporarily deformable tongue which is cut out from a portion of the reed chamber, said tongue having a root portion integral with the reed chamber. The reed chamber and resultant cut out tongue is made of a plastic material having flexing properties therein.

United States Patent Martin et al.

VOLUME CONTROL FOR REED ORGAN Inventors: Harold B. Martin, 19 RosemereAve., West Caldwell, NJ. 07006; Herman O. Rogg, 94 Brook Drive,Watchung, NJ. 07060 Filed: Mar. 10, 1975 Appl. No.: 556,731

US. Cl. 84/355; 84/351; 84/372 Int. Cl. G1OB l/08; G10B 3/02 Field ofSearch 84/355, 356, 360, 374,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1898 Fuller 84/355 Dec. 23,1975 2,710,556 6/1955 Koehl 84/l.27 X 3,063,326 11/1962 Magnus 84/351Primary Examiner-L. T. l-Iix Assistant ExaminerJohn F. Gonzales [5 7]ABSTRACT A volume control is provided for a reed organ having an airchamber, an air moving means, a reed and reed actuating means. Thevolume control features a temporarily deformable tongue which is cut outfrom a portion of the reed chamber, said tongue having a root portionintegral with the reed chamber. The reed chamber and resultant cut outtongue is made of a plastic material having flexing properties therein.

8 7 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec.'23, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 US. PatentDec. 23, 1975 Sheet3of3 3,927,596

VOLUME CONTROL FOR REED ORGAN BACKGROUND .oF THE INVENTION Thisinventionrelates to volume controls, and more particularly toa volumecontrol utilized'in'a reed oran. I r

It is well known that, in general, two types of volume controls areemployed in reed organspnarhely, those controls associated with eitherthe intake or'exhaust of air to and from the reed chamber, respectively.Heretofore, such volume controls of the prior art employed a multitudeof components which not only resulted in increased labor and materialcosts, but also, at times, produced unwanted'squeaking and'hissingsounds, particularly when a change in the volume of air was effectuated.Such unwanted sounds resulted particularly in intake control systemswherein airwas drawn into the reed chamber by "anLair moving meanssuchas that of the impeller type. i

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION relatively low costs. I

Broadly, the invention is concerned with an air intake volume controlutilized in a reed 'organ which is provided with an airchamber, an airmoving means, a reed and reed actuating means. The volume controlincludes a temporarily deformable tongue cut'out from a portion of thereedchamber and having a' root portion integral with the reed chamber.Means are provided'for flexing the tongue .from said reed chamberportion to .perrnitany desired amount of air to be drawn into thechamberforpressurizing same and permittinga reed to be actuated by saidactuating means.

In particular, the 'volume control is further provided with a minimalseparation between the periphery of the tongueand the periphery of thereed chamber to preclude substantially no passage of air theret h roughwhen the tongue is located inthe original plane of the chamber fromwhich it has been cut. Also, openings are provided in the air chamber atthe terminal end portions of the tongue to permit air to be drawntherethrough to pressurize the chamber, which results in a reed beingsounded in response to the reed actuating means to produce a tone at aconstant low volume. Further, the volume control is provided with meansfor actuating same by either an operators foot or knee.

DRAWINGS DISCLOSURE OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention may bestbe illustrated by referring to .FIG.-1 wherein there is depicted theinventive volume control-which is integrally formed from and locatedwithin the bottom portion or base 10 of a reed air chamber, generallyreferred to as 11 wherein an impellerv (not shown) or other similar typeair moving means is located. Preferably,the inventive volume control isformed from and located at the bottom of a well 1 1a wherein theimpeller is located, said well being an'integral portion of a molded airchamber, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, which may be made of any suitablemolding material, such as polystyrene.

The volumecontrol, in general, is in the form of a flap or tongue 12,which is cut-out from base 10, and may be of any desired contour, asdescribed in detail hereinafter. There is a minimal spacing orseparation between periphery 12a of tongue 12 and periphery 10a of thatportion of base 10 from which the tongue has been separated. In effect,as later described, when tongue 12 is in its normal at rest position,that is, when it is located in the original plane from which it has beencut from base l0, theseparation or spacing between peripheries 10a and12a.is of such a small distance that it will preclude a minimal value ofair, if any, to pass through said separation when the impeller isenergized, thereby resulting in little, if any, undesirable hissing orsqueaking sounds.

Located at the terminal portions l2bl2b of the separation or: spacingbetween peripheries 10a and 12a are a pair of annular openings 16-16which serve a dual purpose. Firstly, when tongue 12 is in its normal atrest position and the impeller is energized, sufficient air will bedrawn from the atmosphere and through openings 16-16 into chamber 11 topermit a tone to, be produced when an organ key 15 is depressed.Preferably, the'openingsare of such an area to permit that quantity ofair to pass-'therethrough which is sufficient to pressurize chamber 11to the extent necessary to permit a reed to be activated when a key isdepressed. Accordingly, it can be seen that by varying the area ofopenings 16-16, any constant low volume of tone can be produced, asrequired, without any further activity by an operator with respect tothe volume control.

Secondly, openings l6-16 serve as stress dispersal areas to prevent atearing of tongue 12 when it is removed from its rest position andflexed as seen in FIG. 1, to permit additional air to pass therethroughfor increasing the volume of tones to be produced, as later described.

Tongue 12 may be caused to flex and permit any desired amount of air topass therethroughso as to pressurize the chamber and produce the desiredvolume of tone when a key is depressed. Tongue 12 may be controlledeither by a foot or knee of a player of the organ. For example in FIGS.1 and 3, there is depicted an opening 20 for receivinga rod 21 have atone end a hooked portion 22 which is inserted within opening 20. Theother end of the rod is connected to a foot pedal (not shown) of a typedisclosed in our US. Pat. No. 3,744,341 Accordingly, as the foot pedalis depressed, tongue 12 flexes from base 10 to permit air to be drawntherethrough by the impeller to pressurize the chamber. v

In FIG. 4, there is shown another embodiment of the invention wherein itis capable of being knee operated.

3 As seen, a supporting arm 23 extends substantially perpendicular toand is integral with tongue 12. Alternatively, arm 23 need not beintegral with tongue 12' but may be 'attachedth'ereto by anyconventional fastening means.

Uniquely, tongue 12 freely functions as a spring with uniformdeformation therethrough as a result of the thickness and shape of thetongue together with the inherent flexing properties, contained in theplastic material utilized. As seen in FIG. 2, tongue 12 includes a tipend 12c with diverging sides l2d-l2d extending therefrom and terminatingat a theoretical root end, as illustrated in phantom and referred to asl2e. It has been found that the degree of temporary deformation isdependant upon the angle of divergence between sides l2d-l2d, asillustrated and referred to as Angle A. Accordingly, as the angle ofdivergence increases, temporary deformation of the tongue occurs towardstop end 120 and,,as the angle of divergence decreases, temporarydeformation of the tongue occurs towards root end l2e. Therefore, it canbe seen that by varying the contour of sides l2d-12d, temporarydeformation can occur at any position along the tongue where desired.

Manifestly, the tongue can be of any desired control consistent with theperformance required of certain impellers and reeds. For example, thecontour of the sides of the tongue can vary such that the angle ofdivergence is not uniform throughout the tongue. Thus, in anotherembodiment of the invention, as disclosed in FIG. 5, the angle ofdivergence is constant near the tip portion 12c of the tongue andvariant along the remaining portion thereof. Further, in anotherembodiment of the invention, as disclosed in FIG. 6, the angle ofdivergence is constant near the root portion l2e of the tongue andvariant along the remaining portion thereof. Finally, in anotherembodiment of the inventionas disclosed in FIG. 7, the widths of thetip-end 12c and root end l2e of the tongue are variant, while theremaining portion thereof'is constant so as to produce 1. In combinationwith a reed organ having an air chamber, an air moving means, a reed andreed actuating means, a volume control, which comprises:

a temporarily deformable tongue cut out from a portion of the reedchamber and having a root portion integral with said reed chamber, and

means for flexing the tongue from said reedchamber I portion to permitany desired amount of air to be drawn into the chamber for pressurizingsame and permitting a reed to be actuated by said activating means.

2. In a reed organ having a volume control, according to claim 1,wherein a minimal separation is provided between the periphery of thetongue and the periphery of the reed chamber portion from which thetongue has been separated to preclude substantially no passage of airthrough said separation and into the chamber when the tongue is locatedin the original plane of said chamber from which it has been separated.

3. In a reed organ having a volume control, according to claim 2,wherein an opening is provided in the reed chamber at each terminal endportion of said tongue to permit a preselected quantity of air to bedrawn therethrough to pressurize the chamber and activate a reed toproduce a tone at a constant low volume.

4. In a reed organ having a volume control, according to claim 3,wherein the reed chamber and resultant tongue separated therefrom iscomprised of a plastic material having flexing properties therein.

5. In a reed org an having a volume control, according to claim .4,wherein the angle of divergence in the tongue during the temporarydeforming thereof is related to the shape and thickness of the tongue.

6. In a reed organ having a volume control, according to claim 5,wherein the flexing means includes an integral arm extendingsubstantially perpendicularly from the free end of said tongue.

7. In a reed organ having a volume control, according to claim 5,wherein the flexing means includes an opening located near the free endof the tongue, and foot tongue is separated from a portion of said wellbase.

1. In combination with a reed organ having an air chamber, an air movingmeans, a reed and reed actuating means, a volume control, whichcomprises: a temporarily deformable tongue cut out from a portion of thereed chamber and having a root portion integral with said reed chamber,and means for flexing the tongue from said reed chamber portion topermit any desired amount of air to be drawn into the chamber forpressurizing same and permitting a reed to be actuated by saidactivating means.
 2. In a reed organ having a volume control, accordingto claim 1, wherein a minimal separation is provided between theperiphery of the tongue and the periphery of the reed chamber portionfrom which the tongue has been separated to preclude substantially nopassage of air through said separation and into the chamber when thetongue is located in the original plane of said chamber from which ithas been separated.
 3. In a reed organ having a volume control,according to claim 2, wherein an opening is provided in the reed chamberat each terminal end portion of said tongue to permit a preselectedquantity of air to be drawn therethrough to pressurize the chamber andactivate a reed to produce a tone at a constant low volume.
 4. In a reedorgan having a volume control, according to claim 3, wherein the reedchamber and resultant tongue separated therefrom is comprised of aplastic material having flexing properties therein.
 5. In a reed organhaving a volume control, according to claim 4, wherein the angle ofdivergence in the tongue during the temporary deforming thereof isrelated to the shape and thickness of the tongue.
 6. In a reed organhaving a volume control, according to claim 5, wherein the flexing meansincludes an integral arm extending substantially perpendicularly fromthe free end of said tongue.
 7. In a reed organ having a volume control,according to claim 5, wherein the flexing means includes an openinglocated near the free end of the tongue, and foot actuated meansconnected to said tongue opening.
 8. In a reed organ having a volumecontrol, according to claim 5, wherein the reed chamber is provided witha well for receiving the air drawing means, and thE tongue is separatedfrom a portion of said well base.